Marshall Amp Suggestions?

On the Fenders, I love a Fender circuit. What I DON'T love is the volume required to get that thing in its zone... The Soul Food will kick that preamp circuit as far over the edge as YOU want without the db level killing small critters...

...and you don't lose the guitar tone in the process!!!!

Most pedals color the hell out of the signal...

While I appreciate info on the pedal, I'm definitely not interested in hearing about you spanking your nads. I'm just sayin'............

The 5 has two channels (Classic and Ultra), which is the same as the 40. The 5 only has Volume on the Classic channel, then Volume and again on the Ultra, while the 40 has V & G on both (and I have zero idea about how the channels differ internally). Anyway, I am going to try the Cowboy Tolex version next time and maybe take my own guitar and cable so I can eliminate that factor. But for the moment, I get a better rock/blues sound with my YGL1 at low volume than I did with the DSL. Given what I've heard in videos and demos, I have to think that particular amp was the culprit. Or maybe the recordings online are just really favourable. 

True, but I should have been more specific in my previous post. They both have two channels, but the 40 has two voicings for each channel which the smaller ones don't have.

The DSL5 has classic gain and ultra gain. The DSL15 has classic gain and ultra gain. The DSL40 has classic gain, which has both clean and crunch voicings, and ultra gain, which has overdrive I and overdrive II voicings. So the two smaller ones give you two choices while the larger one gives you four choices. Plus, the larger one has a built in attenuator feature and I am not sure that is offered on the smaller ones.





I was in the Brampton L&M yesterday. They have a DSL15 on the floor and a new DSL40 in the back. I couldn't be arsed to have them unpack the 40 but will at some point this week because there is a DSL40 available for $625 in Summerside PEI. There are others available at decent prices elsewhere.

The thing is that I am not sure the DSL40 is a better amp than my YGL1. I will have to try the 40 to figure that out. I had planned to play my YGL last night to check all of its voicings again, but was knackered and fell asleep on the couch not long after the hockey game ended so that idea went right out the window.

Part of my problem is that I am not 100% certain whether I want Fender sounds or Marshall sounds. One minute I want Fender, the next minute I want Marshall.

Before he left for another job, a friend of mine who worked at my local L&M spoke to one of their guitar teachers for me and told him that I wanted slide lessons (I think a live teacher will be more beneficial than farting around trying to learn slide properly from books). He had asked what kind of slide I wanted to learn and, as soon as my buddy had said Allman Brothers and Derek Trucks type slide he had said "hell yeah, I can teach him that". The guy is also something of a savant when it comes to theory and, since knowledge of theory (or at least of the fretboard) will be important when playing slide and my knowledge of theory is non-existent, I figure it makes sense to get lessons from him. And, as my hands become more and more fucked up from arthritis, I think it is high time that I finally got serious about learning to play slide properly. Anyway, I ran into that teacher in the store the other day. We have known each other to say hello to for some time now and I let him know that it was me my buddy had talked to him about. He said he would be happy to teach me slide and I am just waiting until I know what my teaching schedule will be like in January before I sign up for lessons (no point in choosing a time now only to have to change it in January since this guy only teaches a couple of days per week).

But that plays right into my indecisiveness when it comes to amps. I love both Derek Trucks' and Duane Allman's slide playing. Derek plays through blackfaced Fender amps and Duane played through a 50 watt Marshall bass amp so which do I choose? Maybe the smart thing is to grab a Deluxe Reverb and a Marshall in a box pedal (or the Soul Food that Edro recommends) as that will give me both? Or maybe I should save the money and stick with the YGL1 because its pure channel is very Marshally and even my beginner's version of slide playing sounds good through that channel?

If you're looking for it in a pedal, check this motherfucker out!



I'm sure the platform makes a big difference, and I have no idea how much they are, but it was posted at the other place and (I'm not an "amp in the box" guy) it pretty much blew my mind, as far as a computer demo of an amp could be.
Probably the best one I've heard yet, for getting 2204 sounds. Just a Tone control, but I set everything at noon anyway, so no big.

And another decent demo. I'm liking the sound of this one.

And to take is even further down the rabbit hole:















And apparently the Marshall pedals are good too, or at least the originals are supposed to be (I've no idea how the modern ones compare to the originals). I am referring to the Bluesbreaker and the Guv'nor.

The Tele at the end sounds freakin great.

The problem is which one to get?

When at the store yesterday I found out about a DSL40C for $625. I could probably sell my YGL for $450-$500 or, failing that, a friend who works there told me they would give me $360ish if I traded it in (I only paid $399+tax for it so wouldn't be losing much if I went that route to save hassle). But first I would have to be convinced that a DSL40 gives me more of what I want than the YGL does.

I also checked for Jubilees (stupidly expensive, even used), JCM800s (none available), and the Vintage Modern 2266C (none available).

I could look into the JTM and JMP one watt heads but would need a 2x12 cab (no big deal finding one of those) and am a little loath to pay the asking prices for those heads for a one watt amp. That being said, I only play at home and face the same issue as JDTO does which might make a one watt head far more practical for my purposes.

Why can't some company make one amp that does both blackfaced Fender and Marshall Plexi perfectly? Is that really too much to ask?

Well if I ever get one it will certainly be played by a tit!

I've been listening to Derek Trucks (Tedeschi Trucks Band) all night with a little Black Crowes thrown in. Both Trucks and the second guitar player for the Crowes, who plays a lot of slide, were using Fenders so I am really leaning that way. But I also had another thought - a Princeton Reverb Reissue. Not sure why I hadn't thought of one before now. I used to have one a couple of years back but had to sell it when money was short. They are often sweeter than Deluxe Reverbs and break up a bit earlier (still loud though). The reverb and tremelo are actually better on the PRRI than on the DRRI.

A PRRI would fit my Tele well, and would also work for slide. If I wanted to add to it, a Marshall in a box pedal would do the trick.

The only drawback is the 10" speaker as I far prefer 12" speakers. But if I wanted a larger speaker throwing a 12" into the PRRI is easily done. Hell, many people do it without even bothering to change the baffle.

I will be busy most of the day tomorrow (Monday) but should have time to hit the guitar store on Tuesday at which point I can have them do a search for PRRIs to see if there are any used ones in the chain. I'll also have them look for the tweed version that came stock with a 12" speaker. After that I can hang out with my buddy the tech for a while (he is just back from holidays down in the US) and figure out when he will have time to do the work on my Partscaster.

I wouldn't mind having a Princeton...except for the speaker. I just plain don't like small cheap ass Fender speakers... I'd love to have a Princeton with at least a higher power transparent Emi 12 or better yet a JBL 12... The tone would be ALL AMP, not the speaker.

I've only owned 2 marshalls over the years. The monobloc 100/100, which was an awesome tube power amp. It weighed a ton and in a case with a pre-amp, power cleaner etc... you almost needed a crane to move it. The other was a jcm 900 50w dual reverb w/1960 4x12 cab. Wish I could have that one back.